The corner shop stamp rip-off – Be Clever With Your Cash

Be careful while you’re shopping for your stamps – some retailers shall be including a hefty markup.

With most issues I purchase, I count on costs to fluctuate from store to buy. Greater retailers will usually attempt to undercut one another to draw your small business. Smaller retailers might need to cost extra on account of greater overheads.

Now, I don’t have an issue with this. I’ll often store round for the cheaper value, but when I’ve to go to a smaller, comfort retailer, then I respect it’ll value me extra. Besides that’s for stamps.

Stamps ought to value what stamps value. Proper? Nicely, I’ve discovered that’s not at all times the case, and I count on a number of individuals are unwittingly paying over the chances for postage.

And with an enormous value hike coming from Royal Mail in April, it’s value ensuring you’re not paying an excessive amount of.

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How a lot do stamps value?

Most stamps don’t have a value printed on them, making it laborious to understand how a lot they value! The present value of stamps, and the way a lot they’ll be after the April improve, are as follows:

How a lot is a First Class stamp?

A 1st Class stamp is £1.10 from 3 April 2023 (up by 25p from 95p).Giant 1st Class stamps are £1.60 (elevated from £1.45).

How a lot is a Second Class stamp?

A 2nd Class stamp needs to be 75p (going up from 68p on 3 April 2023)Giant 2nd Class stamps elevated to £1.15 from £1.05.

How a lot is a guide of stamps?

There’s no low cost for getting a guide of stamps, so simply multiply the person value by the variety of stamps (often 6 or 12).

Overcharging for stamps in small retailers

A couple of years in the past at Christmas I picked up a guide of 2nd Class stamps from a small store. I’ll name it a nook store regardless that it wasn’t on a nook. However that ought to provide you with an concept of the sort of store I imply – an impartial off-license/newsagent/random groceries retailer.

Now we had been in a little bit of a rush, so simply requested for £10ish value of stamps (we had been benefiting from the Amex Store Small provide which was you spend £10 and get £5 again). A guide of 12 was £9, so we requested for 2 extra stamps to take us over the £10 spend we wanted.

Because it had been so lengthy since I really purchased any stamps, and with out a value printed on them, I simply thought they’d gone up in value. Quite a bit.

However, really they hadn’t. The value, as set by Royal Mail on the time was 56p (keep in mind this was just a few years in the past). So I ought to have gotten 18 stamps for £10.08, reasonably than 14 for £10.50. It represented an enormous 34% markup.

Now, with our £5 credit score again on the acquisition, we nonetheless saved cash on these stamps – however most individuals gained’t have.

So was this only a mistake? Or a one-off?

Even greater markups elsewhere

To get an concept I requested the value of a stamp in three related “nook retailers” across the London Bridge space on the identical day.

The primary solely offered 1st Class stamps and charged 90p. However this stamp – on the time of the analysis – ought to have been 65p, so the rise was an enormous 38%.

The second charged 70p for 2nd Class, whereas the third needed 70p for 1st Class. Although the markups had been smaller, the retailers nonetheless charged greater than when you received your stamps on the Submit Workplace.

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Be careful for Amazon too

It seems the identical difficulty happens on-line too. Anticipating Amazon to be a helpful place for individuals to purchase stamps (and top-up orders without cost supply), I used to be shocked to see overinflated costs there too.

After all I shouldn’t have been stunned. An enormous quantity of things offered on Amazon aren’t offered by Amazon. As an alternative smaller retailers use the web big as a intermediary. And it’s these retailers that are promoting stamps above the set value.

Right here’s one from March 2023. The itemizing says you’ll get a 12% low cost on 4 1st class stamps. However a £5.69, you’re paying £1.43 per stamp. That’s nicely over the chances, even after subsequent week’s value improve. So be actually cautious!

Can retailers promote stamps at a better value?

That’s the large query actually. If they will, then they aren’t doing something mistaken by doing this. However there’s one thing about stamps that didn’t ring true. My intuition was that is unlawful.

First I checked the Royal Mail web site. The phrases and situations for authorised stamp sellers are they can not promote stamps for greater than the set value. In order that’s fairly minimize and dried.

Nonetheless, it seems promoting above the set value is allowed. This rule solely counts if the retailer has bought the stamps direct from the Royal Mail. In the event that they’ve picked them up elsewhere – a money and carry for instance – the store can cost what it desires.

When this primary happend in 2017, I additionally requested Royal Mail for affirmation, and right here’s its response:

“Any retailer who buys their stamps direct from us for resale should, beneath our T&Cs, promote them at face worth or decrease. This additionally applies to retailers who purchase from us and promote stamps on-line.

“Nonetheless, if a retailer has acquired stamps from someplace else, we can not bind them to this situation.

“There isn’t a manner of understanding whether or not somebody promoting stamps has purchased them from us or not, and we don’t present signage to retailers. Nonetheless, there are approx. 50k shops throughout the UK the place clients should purchase stamps on the appropriate value.

“If a buyer has any considerations in regards to the value of the stamps they’ve been offered, they need to contact our Buyer Companies staff on 0345 774 0740 who can test if the retailer is a buyer of ours and get in contact with them to remind them of our T&Cs”.

The place to purchase your stamps at a good value

Ideally the most secure place to get them on the proper value is at a Submit Workplace. Retailers resembling WH Smiths additionally promote on the appropriate value, as do all the most important supermarkets.

If you’re shopping for from a smaller or impartial retailer, it is smart to at all times ask how a lot a stamp is first. If it’s greater than anticipated, I’d problem them to see in the event that they’ll cost the cheaper price. In any other case, stroll away and discover someplace else.

Ensure the stamp has a barcode

Since January 2023, customary stamps have a barcode, as proven on this article’s important picture. You’ve really received till 31 July 2023 to make use of previous fashion stamps, although you may also ship them off to be exchanged for the brand new variations.

In case you have image stamps with out barcodes, resembling Christmas ones, then you definately’ll have the ability to hold utilizing these after the 31 July deadline and don’t have to swap them.

You additionally don’t want to fret in regards to the stamp having the Queen reasonably than the King on show. Each will work simply superb.

When do stamp costs go up?

If stamps are to go up in value it tends to occur within the final week of March or early April every year, although it may generally occur in January. Thankfully, you’ll be able to nonetheless use a stamp purchased in a earlier 12 months for the postage marked on the stamp.